Extending and rotating rearview mirror assembly

ABSTRACT

An extending and rotating rearview mirror assembly for use on an automotive vehicle includes a base member ( 34 ) for mounting the mirror assembly to the vehicle. An elongated support arm ( 38 ) is pivotally mounted to the base member for pivoting the mirror assembly between an operative position and a folded position. The support arm supports a mirror housing ( 30 ) having a glass mirror pane ( 24 ) therein for providing a rearward reflective view from the vehicle. A coupling assembly ( 20 ) interconnects the mirror housing and support arm for sliding mirror housing in a generally horizontal direction with respect to the base member and for rotating the mirror housing with respect to the base member.

This application is a 371 of PCT/US00/17072 filed Jun. 21, 2000 whichclaims benefit of Ser. No. 60/139,781 filed Jun. 21, 1999.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention is generally related to a rearview mirror assemblyfor an automotive vehicle, and more particularly, to a rearview mirrorassembly which is extendable and rotatable relative to the vehicle.

2. Background of the Invention

Automobiles and trucks typically have primary rearview mirrors mountedon the exterior of the vehicle for providing a field of rearward visionto the vehicle operator. These vehicles are frequently equipped to pullsecondary bodies such as trailers, campers, or the like. These secondarybodies are often wider than the vehicle pulling them, thus requiringsupplemental mirrors to be affixed to the vehicle body for providing awider field of rearward vision. The supplemental mirrors extend beyondthe primary mirrors to provide the wider field of rearward vision. It isalso know to be able to rotate the mirror assembly relative to thevehicle to alter between a horizontal orientation and a verticalorientation and accommodate varying widths and heights of the secondarybodies towed behind the vehicle.

It is desirable to provide a rearview mirror assembly, which may beextended outwardly from the vehicle to provide a wider field of rearwardvision to the vehicle operator and eliminate the need for a supplementalmirror. It is also desirable to provide a rearview mirror assembly thatis rotatable once extended outwardly from the vehicle to provide avarying horizontal or vertical orientation of the mirror to the vehicleoperator.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a rearview mirror assembly for avehicle comprising a mounting assembly for fixedly mounting the mirrorassembly to the vehicle in a position to be viewed by an occupant of thevehicle. The mirror assembly includes a mirror body coupled to themounting assembly. The mirror body includes a mirror housing having anopening therein and a mirror element seated in the opening and coupledto the housing for providing the occupant with a generally rearwardreflective view from the vehicle. The mirror assembly further includes acoupling assembly operatively connected between the mounting assemblyand the mirror body for translating the mirror body in a generallyhorizontal direction with respect to the mounting assembly between afirst position adjacent to the vehicle and a second position spacedoutwardly from the vehicle and for rotating the mirror body with respectto the mounting assembly about an axis extending generally transverse tothe horizontal direction between a plurality of rotated positions.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Other advantages of the present invention will be readily appreciatedwhen the same becomes understood by reference to the following detaileddescription when considered in connection with the accompanying drawingswherein:

FIG. 1 is an exploded view of a rearview mirror assembly constructedaccording to the principles of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is an isolated elevational view of a support arm of the rearviewmirror assembly;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged exploded view of a portion of the rearview mirrorassembly showing a housing assembly and the support arm thereof;

FIG. 4 is an exploded view similar to the view of FIG. 3 but showing anopposite view thereof,

FIG. 5 is an isolated view of the rearview mirror assembly showing amirror body thereof in a fully inwardly position;

FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view of the mirror assembly taken throughthe line 6—6 of FIG. 5 with a power pack assembly and a mirror elementremoved to more clearly illustrate portions of the invention;

FIG. 7 is a view of the rearview mirror assembly similar to the view ofFIG. 5, but showing the mirror body in a fully outwardly extendedposition;

FIG. 8 is a view of the rearview mirror assembly similar to the view ofFIG. 7, but showing the mirror body rotated generally verticallyupwardly from a mounting assembly thereof;

FIG. 9 is a view of the rearview mirror assembly similar to the view ofFIG. 8, but showing the mirror body rotated generally verticallydownwardly from the mounting assembly;

FIG. 10 is a view of a second embodiment of a rearview mirror assemblysimilar to the view of the first embodiment shown in FIG. 7 exceptshowing in addition a plurality of optional microswitches mounted in thesupport arm;

FIG. 11 is an enlarged fragmentary perspective view of a couplingassembly of the support arm; and

FIG. 12 is an enlarged fragmentary perspective view of the couplingassembly of the mirror body.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

Referring to the Figures, wherein like numbers represent like orcorresponding parts throughout the several views, an exploded view of anextending and rotating rearview mirror assembly for use on an automotivevehicle is generally shown at 10 in FIG. 1. The rearview mirror assembly10 includes a mounting assembly, generally designated 12, constructedand arranged to be mounted to a vehicle (not shown) in a position to beviewed by an occupant of the vehicle, a mirror element 14 for providingthe occupant a generally rearward reflected view and a mirror housingassembly 16 constructed and arranged to hold the mirror element 14 in anoperative position for providing the occupant with the generallyrearward reflected view. The mirror element 14 and the mirror housingassembly 16 define a mirror body, generally designated 18. The mountingassembly 12 mounts the mirror body 18 to the vehicle. That is, themirror assembly 10 is typically mounted to an exterior door panel of thevehicle as is conventionally known in the art.

The rearview mirror assembly 10 further includes coupling assembly 20that is constructed and arranged to couple the mirror body 18 to themounting assembly 12 and (1) to permit the mirror body 18 to translatein a generally horizontal direction with respect to the mountingassembly 12 in response to a force applied to the mirror housingassembly 16 in a generally horizontal direction to controllably move themirror housing assembly 16 inwardly or outwardly with respect to thevehicle and (2) to permit the mirror body 18 to rotate with respect tothe mounting assembly 12 about a transverse axis of rotation extendingtransversely through an off-center position of the mirror element 14 inresponse to a torque applied to the mirror body 18 about the axis ofrotation. The transverse axis of rotation is shown in phantom lines inFIG. 1 and is labeled “A”.

Still referring to FIG. 1, the mirror element 14 includes aconventionally constructed elongated, planar and reflective glass mirrorpane 24 mounted in a conventional manner within a glass casing 26 thatis preferably made of a suitable molded plastic.

The mirror housing assembly 16 includes a shell-like mirror housing 30,which may be of any conventional construction and is preferably anintegral structure made of a suitable molded plastic. The mirror housing30 includes an outer wall 31 extending from a rear wall 33 to a frontperipheral rim 35 and forming a generally rectangular bowl-shapedhousing. The peripheral rim 35 defines an opening in the housing 30 forreceiving the mirror element 14. The housing 30 further includes aplurality of tubular mounting posts 37 projecting outwardly from therear wall 33 for receiving and supporting a manual or optional powerpack assembly 28 within the housing structure 30 in a conventionalmanner. The mirror element 14 is pivotally mounted on the power packassembly 28 in a conventional manner for manual or power-assistedpivotal adjustment of the mirror element 14 with respect to the housingstructure 30 as is commonly known to one skilled in the art.

The mounting assembly 12, preferably made of a suitable molded plastic,includes a base member 34 for securing the mirror assembly 10 to thevehicle. The base member 34 includes a triangular-shaped mounting plate39 having a plurality of apertures passing therethrough for receivingfasteners to secure the mounting plate 39 and base member 34 to thevehicle as conventionally known in the art. The base member 34 furtherincludes a support plate 41 projecting outwardly and generallyperpendicular from the mounting plate 39, outboard of the vehicle, forsupporting the mirror body 18. A tubular collar 40 projects upwardlyfrom the support plate 41 to a distal end and forms a cylindrical centerbore 46 therethrough. A plurality of protruding tabs 54 extends upwardlyfrom the distal end of the collar 40 as will be discussed below.

Referring to FIGS. 1, 2 and 3, the mounting assembly 12 further includesan elongated support arm 38 that is preferably made of a high strength,lightweight material such as aluminum or other suitable metal or asuitable molded plastic. The support arm 38 extends between a proximalend 42 and a distal end 44. The support arm 38 includes a pivot base 43adjacent the proximal end 42 and a guide arm 55 extending from the pivotbase 43 to the distal end 44. The pivot base 43 has a top surface 45 andbottom surface 47. Referring specifically to FIG. 2, a tubular wall 49extends between the top surface 45 and the bottom surface 47 to define acylindrical channel 51 in the pivot base 43 opening through the bottomsurface 47. A tubular pivot post 53 is seated in the center of thechannel 51 and extends from the top surface 4to the opening in thebottom surface 47. Referring to FIG. 1, in the preferred embodiment, thesupport arm 38 is pivotally mounted to the base member 34 for pivotalmovement between an outwardly extending (in the lateral or cross cardirection) operative position and a folded storage position (in alongitudinal or fore-aft vehicle direction). More specifically, thecollar 40 is received in the channel 51 to pivotally mount the supportarm 38 on the base member 34. The downwardly extending pivot post 53(best seen in FIG. 2) extends downwardly through the center bore 46defined by the collar 40. A coil spring 48, washer 50 and push nut 52are mounted on the end of the pivot post 53 to bias the support arm 38downwardly into releasably locked engagement with the collar 40 on thebase member 34. Specifically, the support arm 38 is releasably held inthe operative, or in the folded storage position, by cooperation betweenthe protruding tabs 54 integrally formed on a top edge of the collar 40and appropriately shaped detents (not shown) integrally formed on thetop surface 45 within the channel 51 of the support arm 38. By applyinga torsional force of sufficient magnitude to the distal end of thesupport arm 38, the support arm 38 can be pivoted about an axis definedby the channel 40, forwardly or rearwardly, (i.e. clockwise andcounterclockwise direction) from the operative position to andreleasably locked in a forwardly folded or rearwardly folded storageposition. When the base member 34 is mounted on the vehicle, the basemember 34, the spring 48, the washer 50 and the push nut 52 are coveredby a base cover member 58.

The mirror body 18 is mounted to the support arm 38 of the mountingassembly 12 by the coupling assembly 20 in a manner described below. Thepresent invention is particularly concerned with the manner in which themirror body 18 is mounted to the mounting assembly 12 by the couplingassembly 20 for selective generally horizontal movement of the mirrorbody 18 with respect to mounting assembly 12 and for selectiverotational movement therebetween. The structure of the mirror element14, the mirror housing 30, and the mounting assembly 12 (including themanner in which the base member 34 thereof is secured to the vehicle andthe manner in which the support arm 38 thereof is pivotally mounted tothe base member 34) can all be conventional and are not the focus of thepresent invention.

Similarly, the structure and operation of the power pack assembly 28 canalso be conventional. More particularly, the power pack assembly can bepowered by, for example, an electrical motor or by selectivelyenergizable shape memory alloy wires. The mirror element 14 can also bemounted in the mirror housing 30 for manual adjustment by, for example,a conventional friction cup of the type disclosed in U.S. provisionalpatent application serial No. 60/105,434 which application is herebyincorporated by reference in its entirety. A suitable power pack thatutilizes shape memory alloy wire is disclosed in the above incorporatedUnited States provisional patent application number and a suitable powerpack assembly that utilizes an electric motor is disclosed in commonlyassigned U.S. Pat. No. 5,467,230 the disclosure of which is herebyincorporated into the present application in its entirety. It will beunderstood that other known power operated mechanisms may be utilized,as, for example, the more conventional mechanism as disclosed in U.S.Pat. No. 4,915,493, the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated byreference into the present specification. The power operated mechanismsdisclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,678,295 and 4,482,211, both of which arehereby incorporated by reference in their entirety into the presentapplication, can also be used in the present invention.

The preferred construction and arrangement of the coupling assembly 20is best understood with reference to FIGS. 1-4. The coupling assembly 20includes an elongated slot 60 that is formed in the support arm 38.Referring specifically to FIGS. 2 and 3, the elongated slot 60 extendsbetween a first arcuate end 61 adjacent to the pivot base 43 and anopposite second arcuate end 63 adjacent to the distal end 44. The slot60 is bordered by upper and lower upstanding walls 62, 64. The upper andlower upstanding walls 62, 64 are interconnected by an arcuate shapedwall portion 65 adjacent the first arcuate end 61 of the slot 60 and acircular shaped wall portion 67 adjacent to and surrounding the secondarcuate end 63 of the slot 60. A planar shelf 66 extends between theedge of the slot and the walls 62, 64, 65 and 67. The circular shapedwall portion 66 has a diameter, or width, that is greater than thewidth, or distance, between the upper and lower walls 62, 64. Thecoupling structure 20 further includes three identical releasablerotation preventing elements 69 (best seen in FIGS. 2-3) projecting fromthe shelf 66, integrally formed in the support arm 38, and preferablyspaced ninety degrees apart adjacent the circular wall portion 67 of thesupport arm 38.

Referring to FIG. 11, each rotation preventing element 69 includes aforwardly facing ramped surface 87 and a rearwardly facing rampedsurface 88 that extend from opposing sides of a central surface 89 ofeach element 69 (where “forwardly” and “rearwardly” are considered withrespect to the fore-aft vehicle direction when the support arm 38 is inits operative position).

As best shown in FIG. 4, the coupling assembly 20 further includestubular pivot post 70 integrally formed on a forwardly facing (when themirror assembly 10 is in the operative position) side of the rear wall33 of the mirror housing 30. The pivot post 70 is formed in anoff-center position on the rear wall 33 of the mirror housing 30 andforms the off-center transverse axis A of rotation of the mirror body 18with respect to the mounting assembly 12. The coupling assembly 20further includes a guide member 72 surrounding the pivot post 70 andintegrally formed on the forwardly facing side of the rear wall 33 ofthe mirror housing 30. The guide member 72 includes raised upper andlower straight rail portions 78, 80 interconnected at their opposingends by inner and outer arcuate rail portions 82, 84, respectively. Anotch 86 is formed at a central position in each arcuate wall portion82, 84 of the wall structure 76, and each notch 86 is sized toreleasably receive a rotation preventing element 69 therein. Referringto FIG. 12, each notch 86 includes angled or ramped surfaces 91, 93 thatextend between a central surface 95 of each notch 86 and a top edge 97of the rails 82, 84. (It can be understood that the top edge 97 of therails 82, 84 faces generally in the forward vehicle direction when thesupport arm 38 is in its operative position.) The angles formed by theramped surfaces 87, 88 and the angled surfaces 91, 93 are preferablyequal, the preferred angular value for each surface 87, 88, 91 and 93being sixty degrees.

In the preferred embodiment of the mirror assembly 10, each rotationpreventing element 69 is a raised detent or bump-like structure that issized to be received within a selected notch 86. It can be understoodthat when a sufficiently high torque is applied to the mirror housingassembly 16 about the transverse axis thereof, the angled surfaces 87,88, 91 and 93 allow the rotation preventing elements 69 to move out ofthe notches 86 in which they are disposed to allow the mirror housingassembly 16 to rotate with respect to the mounting assembly 12.

The mirror body 18 is coupled to the mounting assembly 12 by thecoupling assembly 20 in a manner best appreciated from FIGS. 4 and 6.The pivot post 70 is sized to be snuggly and slidably received withinthe elongated slot 60 and is held there by a washer 90, a coil spring 92and a push nut 94, all of which are of conventional construction. Thespring 92 biases the top edge 97 of the rails 78, 80, 82, and 84 to bearagainst one side of the shelf 66 on the support arm 38 and the washer 90on the opposite side of the shelf 66. The push nut 94 is secured to theend of the pivot post 70 to slidably retain the post 70 in the slot 60.The front of the support arm 38 is normally covered by an arm coverstructure 100, as shown in FIG. 1. More specifically, it can beunderstood from the cross sectional view of FIG. 6 that the push nut 94and the coil spring 92 cooperate to bias the mirror housing 30 intofrictional engagement with the support arm 38.

The guide member 72 is seated between the upper and lower upstandingwalls 62, 64. The biasing force of the coil spring 92 and the abuttingengagement between the upper and lower horizontally extending wallportions 62, 64 and the upper and lower straight rail portions 78, 80(on the support arm 38 and mirror housing 30, respectively) preventsunintended movement of the mirror body 18 with respect to the supportarm 38 when the guide member 72 is positioned between the wall portions62, 64 and adjacent the first arcuate end 61 of the elongated slot 60during normal use of the mirror assembly 10. It can be appreciated fromFIG. 5 that during normal use of the mirror assembly 10 when the guidemember 72 is at the first arcuate end 61 of the elongated slot 60, theupper and lower rails 78, 80 are in frictional engagement and abuttingrelation with the upper and lower horizontal walls 62, 64 integrallyformed on the support arm 38 to prevent relative rotational movementtherebetween. The engagement between the guide member 72 and the wallportions 62, 64 allows horizontal translational movement of the mirrorbody 18 with respect to the mounting assembly 12 to reposition themirror body 18 with respect to the mounting assembly 12 when the userapplies a manual horizontal force of sufficient magnitude.

It can be appreciated from FIG. 7 that the when the guide member 72 ofthe mirror body 18 has been translated horizontally to the secondarcuate end 63 of the elongated slot 60, the upper and lower straightrails 78, 80 of the guide member 72 are not in abutting relation withthe upper and lower horizontal walls 62, 64 on the support arm 38 andthe arcuate rails 82, 84 of the guide member 72 are positioned tofrictionally engage the circular wall portion 67 of the support arm 38to allow rotation of the mirror body 18 with respect to the support arm38 of the mounting assembly 12 when a manual force of sufficientmagnitude is applied. The releasable rotation preventing elements 69 arepositioned to engage at least one of the notches 86 in the guide member72 to hold the mirror body 18 in any of a number of predefined angular,or rotation, positions with respect to the mounting assembly 12. Thespring 92 urges each of the rotation preventing element 69 intoreleasable engagement with the notches 86 in which it is releasablydisposed.

The operation of the rearview mirror assembly 10 can best be understoodwith reference to FIGS. 5, and 7-10. Referring to FIG. 5, the mirrorbody 18 is positioned fully inwardly with respect to the mountingassembly 12 and shows the elongated mirror element 14 in a generallyhorizontally extending orientation. It can be appreciated that in thisposition, the mirror element 14 provides the driver with a rear viewthat is generally directed rearwardly and outwardly of the vehicle sothat the driver can see generally rearwardly of the vehicle. Theslidable, abutting engagement between the upper and lower straight rails78, 80 of the coupling structure 20 and the upper and lower horizontallyextending wall portions 62, 64 of the coupling structure 20 permits themirror body 18 to translate in a generally horizontal direction withrespect to the mounting assembly 12 when the driver applies a generallyhorizontally directed force on the mirror housing assembly 16 to allowthe driver to controllably move the mirror housing assembly 16 outwardlywith respect to the vehicle toward the second arcuate end 63 of theelongated slot 60, but prevents rotational movement of the mirror body18 with respect to mounting assembly 12 until the mirror body 18 hasmoved to the second arcuate end 63 of the elongated slot 60. Theabutting engagement between the rails 78, 80 and the wall portions 62,64 stabilizes the mirror body 18 to help prevent movement therebetween.

It can be understood that when the walls 62, 64, 78, 80 are in abuttingengagement, the mirror body 18 is prevented from rotating with respectto the mounting assembly 12. When the driver has moved the mirror body18 fully outwardly to the position shown in FIG. 7, the circular wall 67on the support arm 38 and arcuate rails 82, 84 of the guide member 72are in abutting engagement and two of the releasable rotation preventingelements 22 are received within the notches 86 formed in the guidemember 72 to prevent relative rotation between the mirror body 18 andthe support arm 38 of the mounting assembly 12. It can be appreciatedfrom FIG. 7 that the rails 78, 80 on the mirror housing 30 have movedout of abutting engagement with the walls 62, 64 on the support arm 38to allow relative rotation between the mirror body 18 and mountingassembly 12.

It can also be appreciated from FIG. 7 that the elongated mirror element14 is disposed in a generally horizontally extending orientation toprovide the driver with a relatively wide rearview in the horizontaldirection. Some drivers prefer a rearview that has a relatively wideview in the vertical direction, especially when driving relatively tallvehicles such as trucks or vans or when towing tall trailers. When themirror body 18 is in the extended position relative to the support arm38 of the mounting assembly 12, the guide member 72 and the inner andouter arcuate rails 82, 84 cooperate with the circular wall portion 67of the support arm 38, respectively, to provide an off-center,transversely extending axis of rotation for the mirror body 18 to allowthe driver to rotate the mirror body 18 about the pivot post 70 withrespect to the mounting assembly 12 by applying a torsional forcemanually to the mirror body 18 about the transversely extending axis ofrotation.

This rotation of the mirror body 18 allows the driver to reposition themirror element 14 so that the elongated extent thereof extends generallyvertically as shown, for example, in FIGS. 8 or 9. More specifically, itcan be appreciated that when the mirror body 18 is in the position shownand FIG. 7, the driver can rotate the mirror body 18 clockwise orcounter clockwise (from the point of view shown in FIGS. 7-9) so thatwhen the mirror element 14 is generally vertical, it extends generallyupwardly from the support arm 38 (as shown in FIG. 8) or generallydownwardly therefrom (as shown in FIG. 9), respectively. It can beappreciated from FIGS. 7-9, that in the exemplary embodiment of therearview mirror assembly 10 shown therein, the releasable rotationpreventing elements 22 of the coupling structure 20 predefine fourangular positions (three of which are shown in FIGS. 7-9) radiallyspaced 90 degrees apart in which the mirror body can be releasablysecured with respect to the mounting assembly. It is within the scope ofthe intention, however, to provide releasable rotation preventingelements 22 in positions appropriate to releasably bold the mirror body18 in any number of angular positions with respect to the support arm38, including positions other than essentially horizontal andessentially vertical.

It can be understood from FIG. 6 that when the driver applies a torqueof sufficient magnitude to the mirror body 18 about the off-center axisof rotation thereof, the coils spring 92 is compressed and the mirrorbody 18 moves generally outwardly (in the transverse direction) from thesupport arm 38 to allow the releasable rotation preventing elements 22to move out of the notches 86 in which they are normally held. Thedriver continues applying the torsional force on the mirror body 18until each notch 86 moves respectively into releasable engagement withthe next adjacent releasable rotation preventing element 22 to hold themirror body 18 in the next predefined mirror body position.

It can be understood that each time the driver repositions the mirrorbody 18 with respect to the support arm 38 of the mounting assembly 12,it may be necessary for the driver to pivotally reposition the mirrorelement 14 with respect to the mirror housing 30 to accommodate the newposition of the mirror body 18 to provide the desired rearview. Thepivotal repositioning of the mirror element 14 with respect to themirror housing 30 is accomplished in an entirely conventional manner andwill not be considered in detail and the present application. When amanually adjusted friction cup is provided to mount the mirror element14 in the mirror housing 30, the driver manually manipulates the mirrorelement 14. When a power pack assembly is provided, the drivermanipulates a conventionally constructed multi-position switch assembly(not shown) mounted within the interior of the vehicle to reposition themirror element 14. It can be appreciated that a plurality of wires (notshown) are provided between the power pack assembly 28 and themulti-position switch assembly to selectively energize and control thepower pack assembly.

It will be understood, however, that a typical multi-position switchassembly for pivotally repositioning a power operated mirror within ashell-like housing structure includes a switch member that has multiplepredefined switch positions which correspond to specific, intendedpivotal movements of the mirror. For example, to pivot a mirror upwardlywithin a shell-like housing structure, the driver typically moves themulti-position switch member upwardly (or forwardly) and to pivot to themirror generally outwardly, the driver typically moves of the switchmember outwardly (in the cross car direction) and so on. This makes themanipulations of the switch member required to move the mirror elementintuitive. It can be appreciated, however, that when the mirror body 18is in the positions shown in FIGS. 7-9, movements of the switch memberwould ordinarily not correspond as aforesaid in all three mirror body 18positions and would in fact be different for each rotational position ofthe mirror body 18 with respect to the mounting assembly 12. It istherefore preferable that when a power pack assembly 28 is included inthe rearview mirror assembly 10, two microswitches 100, 102 are mountedwithin the support arm 38 of the mounting assembly 12 ninety degreesapart and are operatively engaged with the guide member 72 of thehousing structure 30.

An exemplary embodiment of a rearview mirror assembly that includesmicro switches is designated 110 and shown in FIG. 10. Structures ofassembly 110 that are similar to structures on assembly 10 are givenidentical reference numbers and are not described in further detail.When the micro switches 100, 102 are included in a rearview mirrorassembly 110, switch portions 104 thereof extending through respectiveapertures (not shown) formed in the support arm 38 and selectivelyreleasably engage two switch receiving apertures (not shown) formed inthe guide member 72 of the housing structure 30. The two switchreceiving apertures are disposed ninety degrees apart and, because thereare two switches, there are for possible switch conditions. An exemplarylogic table for these four possible micro switch 100, 102 conditions isas follows:

Mirror Position Micro switch 100 Micro switch 102 0 degrees rotation OnOn (FIG. 7) 90 degrees rotation On Off clockwise (FIG. 8) 180 degreesrotation Off Off (not shown) 90 degrees rotation Off On counterclockwise (FIG. 9)

Because there are four distinguishable switch conditions or positionsfor the microswitches 100, 102, an appropriately programmedmicroprocessor would be able to determine the rotational orientation ofthe mirror body 18 relative to the support arm 38 of the mountingassembly 12 in ninety degree increments. The microprocessor could beprogrammed to translate given switch movements into consistent pivotalmovements of the mirror element 14 with respect to the housing structure30 so that the user would have a consistent switch interface. Thus, agiven movement of the multi-position switch member would correspond to agiven mirror element 14 movement regardless of the relative position ofthe mirror body 18 with respect to the mounting assembly 12. Only theOn-On micro switch 100, 102 position is shown in FIG. 10; other microswitch positions would be as indicated in the above table.

It is understood that the rearview mirror assembly 10 shown in thedrawings and described herein is exemplary only and not intended tolimit the scope of the invention. It is within the scope of the presentinvention, for example, to provide a mirror assembly in which the mirrorbody is rotatable with respect to the mounting assembly in a pluralityof horizontal positions of the mirror body with respect to the mountingassembly so that rotational repositioning of the mirror body is notrestricted to the case in which the mirror body is translated fullyhorizontally outwardly from the vehicle.

The invention has been described in an illustrative manner, and it is tobe understood that the terminology, which has been used, is intended tobe in the nature of words of description rather than of limitation.

Many modification and variations of the present invention are possiblein light of the above teachings. It is, therefore, to be understood thatwithin the scope of the appended claims, the invention may be practicedother than as specifically described.

What is claimed is:
 1. A rearview mirror assembly for a vehiclecomprising: a mounting assembly for fixedly mounting said mirrorassembly to the vehicle in a position to be viewed by an occupant of thevehicle; a mirror body coupled to said mounting assembly, said mirrorbody including a mirror housing having an opening therein and a mirrorelement seated in said opening and coupled to said housing for providingthe occupant with a generally rearward reflective view from the vehicle;a coupling assembly operatively connected between said mounting assemblyand said mirror body for translating said mirror body in a generallyhorizontal direction with respect to said mounting assembly between afirst position adjacent to the vehicle and a second position spacedoutwardly from the vehicle and for rotating said mirror body withrespect to said mounting assembly about an axis extending generallytransverse to said horizontal direction between a plurality of rotatedpositions.
 2. A rearview mirror assembly as set forth in claim 1 whereinsaid mounting assembly includes an elongated support arm extendingbetween a proximal end and a distal end for mounting said mirror bodythereto.
 3. A rearview mirror assembly as set forth in claim 2 whereinsaid coupling assembly includes an elongated slot formed in said supportarm and extending between a first arcuate end and second arcuate endbetween said proximal and distal ends of said support arm.
 4. A rearviewmirror assembly as set forth in claim 3 wherein said coupling assemblyincludes a tubular pivot post projecting from said mirror housing andslidably received within said elongated slot for lateral movementbetween said first and second arcuate ends.
 5. A rearview mirrorassembly as set forth in claim 4 wherein said elongated slot is borderedby upper and lower upstanding walls interconnected by an arcuate shapedwall portion adjacent said first arcuate end and a circular shaped wallportion adjacent to and surrounding said second arcuate end of saidslot.
 6. A rearview mirror assembly as set forth in claim 5 furtherincluding a planar shelf extending between the peripheral edge definingsaid slot and each of said upper and lower upstanding walls, saidarcuate shaped wall portion and said circular shaped wall portion.
 7. Arearview mirror assembly as set forth in claim 6 further including aplurality of equally spaced apart releasable rotation preventingelements projecting from said shelf adjacent said circular shaped wallportion.
 8. A rearview mirror assembly as set forth in claim 7 whereinsaid mirror housing includes a rear wall opposite said opening and saidcoupling member includes a guide member projecting from said rear walland surrounding said pivot post for mating alignment between said upperand lower walls adjacent said slot.
 9. A rearview mirror assembly as setforth in claim 8 wherein said guide member includes raised upper andlower straight rail portions interconnected at their opposing ends byinner and out arcuate rail portions.
 10. A rearview mirror assembly asset forth in claim 9 wherein said guide member includes a notch formedat a central position in each arcuate wall portion thereof to releasablyreceive one of said rotation preventing elements therein to define arotated position of said mirror body.
 11. A rearview mirror assembly asset forth in claim 10 wherein each of said rotation preventing elementsincludes a forwardly facing ramp surface and a rearwardly facing rampedsurface extending from opposing sides of a central surface forcooperation with said notch in said guide member to define said rotatedposition.
 12. A rearview mirror assembly as set forth in claim 11wherein each notch includes opposing ramped surface extending between acentral surface an a top edge of said respective adjacent rail portionfor mating with said ramp surfaces of said rotation preventing elements.13. A rearview mirror assembly as set forth in claim 12 furtherincluding a spring bias element seated around said pivot post betweensaid shelf and a retaining nut opposite said guide member for slidablysecuring said mirror housing to said support arm and guide memberagainst said shelf.
 14. A rearview mirror assembly as set forth in claim13 further including a base member for operatively supporting saidsupport arm and mirror housing and adapted to mount said mirror assemblyto the vehicle.
 15. A rearview mirror assembly as set forth in claim 14wherein said base member includes a tubular collar projecting upwardlyfrom a support plate for rotatably receiving and supporting said supportarm thereon and for providing rotation movement of said support arm andmirror housing relative to said vehicle.